I'm looking for recommendations on less...polished and plasticky looking wuxia.
What I like in old wuxia films is that they often involved the actual jianghu - criminals, thieves and outlaws, creepy cults and all kinds of weird stuff.
Unfortunately a lot of "wuxia" shows feature mostly cultivators who always look like they just stepped out of a makeup trailer, with perfectly pressed wardrobe, fighting almost exclusively using bad CGI. (and boring court drama)
Is there anything where people get dirty and bloody, or at least get their hair wet once in a while?
I've been watching Ever Night and it's...ok.
I wonder if they just stopped making this kind of stuff altogether. :(
I think old eastern are out already :-/.
You could try :
https://mydramalist.com/33890-song-of-glory
https://mydramalist.com/30901-fearless
https://mydramalist.com/28435-the-longest-day-in-chang-an
I also enjoyed this one :
https://www.viki.com/tv/1481c-strange-hero-yi-zhi-mei
But still tons of makeup.
Or you could find some old 70’s japanese zatoichi movies on
youtube. Really good.